Little White Lie
by Lady Lithe
Summary: Just because I wanted to grab you and to snog your bloody clueless brains out, Potter, means nothing! Absoutely nothing! Because right now I wouldn’t kiss you, you pathetic arse, if you were the very last insufferable prat on the face of the earth! HG


Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. 

Naru-chan: Ah, another one-shot for you. :) Full of nice goodness hopefully! I hope you like it!

* * *

Little White Lie 

_Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. – __The Princess Bride_

Harry ran his hand through his unruly raven hair as he patiently waited outside the Transfiguration room. He leaned against the stone wall leisurely as he tapped his foot against the floor. Soon the door opened and a crowd of fifth years spilled out. His emerald eyes casually scanned the tops of their heads until he spotted a certain redhead.

The corners of his mouth irresistibly tugged upward as he watched Ginny Weasley make a striking imitation of Professor Snape that caused all of her friends to laugh. Her crimson locks always made her stand out in the crowd. It contrasted so well with her porcelain skin, which had freckles sprinkled over it. She had truly changed from the small blushing girl that couldn't even speak to him. Now he couldn't make her stop if he wanted to. And he usually didn't want to.

Presently her honey gold eyes spotted him and she waved goodbye to her friends. She smiled brightly as she approached him. He returned the smile and pulled his book bag over his shoulder.

"Hey Harry," Ginny said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "You didn't wait long, did you?"

"Not at all," he smiled as the two of them proceeded to Ginny's next class, which was Charms.

This had become a customary routine for the two of them. During the beginning of the year, Draco Malfoy had made his very unwelcome intentions toward the attractive redhead known. As a result, just as a precaution, Harry or Ron always escorted her to her classes. Normally, Ginny would have put up a huge fight, claiming that she could take care of herself, and Ron in response would argue that she was still a little girl and it would have ended up with two extremely irate redheads. However, because Malfoy had become extremely vicious and hostile this year with trickier bodyguards, she reluctantly agreed that it was probably for the best that either Ron or Harry followed her just in case Malfoy tried to fight dirty.

At first, Harry had been rather neutral about the whole thing. He hadn't minded, but it hadn't been something he was looking forward to either. He found this no longer to be true. In fact, he extremely enjoyed her company. He had discovered her witty humor and that she was extremely good at imitating. She never failed to make him laugh or smile. He liked being with her so much that he was disappointed whenever it was Ron's turn to escort her. Sometimes he even went out of his way to voluntarily take Ron's place. Today was one of those days.

"So why isn't Ron here?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Oh, you know, for this or that reason," Harry answered vaguely, not wanting to tell her that he had insisted on escorting her.

"Well, I prefer you anyway."

"Do you?" He was surprised at how pleased he was to hear that.

"Obviously." Ginny smiled up at him, her red hair swinging cheerfully behind her. "You're much more fun to be with. Usually when Ron's with me, he goes on and on about how I need to be alert because of all these blokes and blah, blah, blah. He's so overprotective."

"It's his way of showing he cares," Harry conceded. At her exaggerated weary look, he chuckled. "Come on, you know how terrible he is at expressing his feelings. He and Hermione have yet to get together."

"I know, and it's giving me such a headache," she moaned, rubbing her forehead with exasperation. "Doesn't it annoy you? Those two are _obviously _meant to be together and they just don't get it!"

"You're not the one who has to be with them when they fight." He rolled his eyes. "It's such a pain when your two best friends are fighting all the time and you're in the middle of it all."

"There, there," she said sympathetically while patting his arm. The spot tingled when her hand left it, and he absently rubbed it. "One day…even if it's in the far future…one day those two will get their act together."

"Sometime _soon_, I ho–"

"Harry!"

Harry stopped walking and instantaneously turned to see Cho Chang running down the corridors toward him. His face heated up at the sight of his old flame. She was still beautiful, with her long raven hair shimmering around her pale face. Her midnight blue eyes bore into him and he forgot where he was…and who he was.

"Cho…" he whispered.

She stopped a few feet away from him and smiled shyly, pushing a stray lock of black hair behind her ear. Her face was flushed red and her eyes quickly diverted themselves from his emerald gaze.

"H-Hi Harry. I'm sorry, I saw you and I just…well, we haven't really spoken since…" She trailed off.

"Yeah…" he agreed awkwardly, tugging at his gold and red striped tie.

"I'm really sorry about last year, Harry," she said sincerely, reaching out to take his hand. He felt his face heat up. "I just wanted to make sure we're okay?"

"Oh yeah!" he nodded earnestly. "We're okay. We're great."

"Good," she smiled in great relief. Then she quickly glanced to the ground and squeezed his hand slightly. "And you know that…Hogsmeade is coming up and all s-so I was wondering…"

"Yes?" he whispered, staring at her longingly.

A sudden harsh cadence caused Harry's head to turn sharply. Ginny was clearing her throat loudly. He had forgotten that she had been there at all.

"I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?" she said in a sweet voice that dripped with venom, as she smiled.

"Oh, no, I –" Cho blushed furiously as she realized that Ginny had been there the whole time. She let go of Harry's hand faster than he could say 'Snape.'

"Because I have class to go to," Ginny said pointedly, her saccharine smile still on her face. "So if you don't mind…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Harry, I-I'll see you later!" With that she quickly skittered away with her black robes billowing behind her.

"Wait, Cho!" Harry called forlornly after her as he watched her run away. Angrily, he turned back to the redhead who had continued walking. A stream of imprecations flew from his mouth. He quickly followed her, snapping, "What did you do that for?"

"Do what?" she said innocently, not bothering to face him.

"You know very well what!" he cried bitterly, raking his frustrated hands through his raven hair. "Cho was going to ask me to go to Hogsmeade with her!"

"Is that so?" she laughed just as bitterly. "Well, it's a crying shame that I had to go to Charms. I'm sorry that I can't be late to class just because you're waiting for a girl to ask you out, Harry Potter. The world doesn't revolve around you."

"You know that she means a lot to me! We haven't spoken all year and you just had to go and ruin everything!" he accused her pointedly.

"I'm sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "I thought you were over that…whatever you want to call it that you had for Cho. Why don't you go run after her now and let her sob on your shoulder or something?"

"What is this?" he demanded with disgust. "Are you _jealous_ or something? I thought you were over your silly little _crush_!"

Ginny instantly swerved to face him, her fiery hair whipping around her. Though they were only inches apart, neither of them backed down as they fiercely glared at each other. They were so close that he could see the specs of gold in her eyes.

"That was a low blow," she hissed, and he knew it. He knew he shouldn't have said it and he knew it hurt her in ways that he didn't want to. They never spoke of her old crush on him. It was an unspoken rule. But he was too petulant at the moment to care.

"Why don't you cry me a river," he sneered. "Or better yet, go find yourself some butter."

Her eyes widened with hurt and he instantly regretted what he said.

"I thought better of you."

"Yeah? I guess you thought wrong."

"Well you can just go to hell, Harry. And you can snog your crying Cho Chang there all you want!"

He knew he should apologize. He knew he should get down onto his knees and plead. He opened his mouth to, but somehow only cruel words spilled out. "Oh – is this about snogging now? Is that it? Do you want to _snog_ me, Ginny?"

"Just because I wanted to grab you and to snog your bloody clueless brains out, Potter, means nothing! Absolutely nothing! Because right now I wouldn't kiss you, you sorry pathetic _arse_, if you were the very last insufferable prat on the face of the earth!" she snarled viciously before marching off, leaving a tongue-tied Harry in her wake.

* * *

She was avoiding him. There was no way around it. She was avoiding him. 

Whenever it was his turn to accompany her to class, she simply continued to chat animatedly with her friends and walk quickly away from him. She no longer sat with him, Ron, and Hermione during meals. When he called out to her, she simply ignored him. Sometimes when he found her sitting alone in the library studying and approached her, she would instantly pack her things and brush past him. He might as well have been Malfoy.

Well fine, Harry thought indigently at first. He could avoid her too! Yet…somehow he would find himself writing sincere letters of apology to her. He found that he couldn't ignore her at the least and all he wanted was to make everything right again. But every single one of the letters he sent to her through Hedwig was left unopened. He knew this because she sent them right back, the seals still pressed firmly to the envelopes. He wished for nothing more than to turn back time and undo the horrible fight. The whole ordeal was driving him so insane that he forgot all about finding Cho and asking her to Hogsmeade _and _he had hurt himself twice watching Ginny rather than the Snitch during several Quidditch practices. It didn't help that she refused to so much as glance his way.

And the worst part of all was that he knew it was entirely his fault.

"It was entirely your fault, you know," Hermione said calmly as she continued to peruse an extremely large textbook. Harry raised his head from his hands for a moment to glare at the brunette.

"Gee, thanks for the support," he replied sarcastically, pushing his thin wire glasses back up the bridge of his nose. Her composed demeanor irritated him. "You sure do know how to console a person, you know that?"

"No need to get angry with me, Harry," she continued in the same voice while she flipped a page. "You know very well that you deserve this."

"Yeah, well," he grumbled grudgingly, laying his head on his arms. He pouted as he watched Ginny from his seat. She was sitting across the room with a bunch of her friends, laughing happily, not at all looking miserable like Harry. In fact, he growled to himself, she looked darn right happy to be sitting next to Dean, talking with him, and laughing with him. "She ruined my chance with Cho!"

"What you said was far worse. You were digging in her graveyard."

The pang of guilt in his heart reluctantly agreed with her.

"But she's not even making an effort to make up with me," he protested, not wanting to feel this guilt. "I've been trying to apologize for a month now!"

Hermione sniffed. "I wouldn't make an effort if Ron said such things to me either."

"But – "

"Give it up Harry. We've been having this same conversation for weeks now," she said with a sigh, finally setting her book down to look at him straight in the eye. "You're being such an idiot about all of this. You're almost as bad as Ron!"

"Hey!" he frowned. He rubbed his sore chest sulkily. That hurt more than he was willing to admit.

"Come on and _think_ for once, Harry. Why are you so upset?"

"Because she's not talking to me," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. This was stupid. He didn't want to be fighting with Ginny. He hadn't realized just how much he had liked being with her. Of course, he had realized that he enjoyed being with her but it hadn't occurred to him that it would ever stop. Not that they usually hung around each other during school…

"And why does that bother you?" she asked in a patient voice.

"Because…she's Ginny." Harry didn't see where this was going. Anyone would be bothered by Ginny not talking to him or her!

"And…?"

"And…and I miss her," he said finally, and he meant it. Dean had put his around Ginny and Harry quickly averted his gaze.It was hard to believe just how much he did.

"Exactly, Harry." At his blank look, Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, get a clue. Do I have to spell it out for you? Look, have you ever been this bothered by a fight?"

He opened his mouth and stared at her for a moment. Then he snapped his mouth close and scowled. "Ron during our fourth year."

She waved that off with her hand. "I meant with a _girl_. Besides, that was different because Ron didn't believe you. This is an utterly alternate state of affairs. So tell me, have you ever had such a dispute with a girl?"

"No." At her look, he asked, "What's your point?"

"You wouldn't be this upset if you and Cho were fighting. You wouldn't even feel this bad if _we _were fighting. You most certainly would not be making such an effort to fix things. My goodness, Harry, you wouldn't be this downright _miserable_!"

"I don't get it, Hermione! So what if I am?" he frowned, rubbing his aching head. "Besides, what on earth do you or Cho have to do with this? This is between Ginny and me."

Hermione looked at him incredulously and exasperatedly in a way that he had only seen her give to Ron before she slammed her book shut and rose.

"Next thing you know, you're going to be speaking like him," she muttered under her breath.

"Wait – I don't understand! Hermione!" Harry called vainly after her. He grumbled and laid his cheek against his hand as he watched her retreating back leave the room. His greens eyes angrily sought Ginny again.

What had Hermione been trying to say? So what if he wouldn't care as much if he and Cho were fighting? And so what if he wouldn't make as much of an effort to repair things? After all, this was Ginny. And Ginny…she meant a lot to him. A whole lot. She had become such a great friend. He watched as she let out a bright laugh, her scarlet locks jumping slightly so that they caught the light from the fire. She always managed to get his mind off of foreboding thoughts such as Voldemort. She always could make him smile and laugh. She even gave him a good kicking when he was in desperate need of one. Of course he wanted to make things right…because he…he…

"Bloody hell!" he uttered, remarkably like Ron. His face slipped from his hand in pure shock before he covered it in a mixture of horror and misery. "I like her!"

* * *

He couldn't like her. He just couldn't. It wasn't possible! She was Ginny. The same girl that sent him that terrible singing Valentine card…but then again, that had been the only one he had ever received… But that didn't change the fact that she was still Ron's sister! She had six brothers that would beat him to a bloody pulp if he so much as glanced at her in an un-brotherly way! So it couldn't be. He just couldn't like her. But he did. It was so confusing. He found himself constantly battling with himself mentally over the whole thing the next day. Many students cautiously cleared his way down the corridors as his face unconsciously reflected his thoughts. 

What about Cho?

_What _about_ Cho_?

I thought I liked her!

_You had a crush. You wanted her because you couldn't have her. She was a year older. She was a Ravenclaw. She was different from what you knew._

Well, Ginny's a year younger than me and she's a Gryffindor. She's nothing like Cho. Or more like…Cho's nothing like her. Nothing _compared _to her… Wait, arg, I shouldn't like her then!

_But it's why you like her. She's amazing. Her long hair…her brown eyes…_

Ok, so she looks nice.

_Just nice?_

I get it; I get it. So she looks _very _nice. Nicer than any other girl I know.

_And sometimes you just want to –_

Shhh! What about Ron, huh? I'm his best mate!

H_e should be okay with it._

What don't you understand about "best mate?" He'd never forgive me! I think he owns a bat…

_He's been trying to set you up with Ginny ever since your second year. Don't you remember when she and Michael Corner broke up? He kept on throwing those looks at you that you just chose to ignore. _

Oh yeah. That's brilliant. Just go up to him and say, "Hey, Ron, you know your little sister – yeah, the one you've always wanted me to notice but I never did – well, I like her now after all these years. That okay with you?"

_Nothing wrong with that._

And that was then, this is now. He's so protective when it comes to Ginny and boys! He's never going to let me near her at all if he finds out. He might even lock me up in a closet and never let me out!

Y_ou're not just _any _boy. You're the boy who is best mates with her older brother – in fact almost all of her brothers love you. Even her mum and dad love you. Fred, George, Charlie, Bill, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley. Okay, so Percy not so much, but who cares about him anyway?_

But if I really do like her, why didn't I notice sooner? I wouldn't lie to myself like that.

_Uh, no offense, but you're doing it now._

Will you just – !

_Okay, okay! Jeez, I swear you really are a prat sometimes… Look, you've been lying to yourself because you were scared. Scared of what would happen if you did realize it. Scared of the next step. Scared of how much your feelings would inevitably grow for her. Because you know once you give her your heart, you're never going to get it back. You won't want it back._

Harry didn't have too much time to digest this new knowledge when he suddenly realized that he was in a deserted hallway. He was late! He raced down the corridors, his book bag swinging madly at his side. He had been so consumed in his mental argument that he had totally lost track of time. He grit his teeth. He didn't want Ginny to be angry with him any more than she already was! He shoved open the door of the History of Magic classroom and let out a sigh when he saw it was empty. She had left without him.

He wiped the sweat from his flushed face with another sigh and closed the door. It was probably better that he didn't see her when he was so confused. Seeing her wouldn't help. But he really did want to see her. He really did want everything to be normal again – even if he was beginning to wish for something more.

"Harry?" a voice caused him to look up. He frowned for a moment, before he finally placed the girl as one of Ginny's friends.

"Er – yes?"

"You…did you see Ginny?" she asked in a worried voice.

"What?" he said alarmed. "Isn't she in class?"

"No," she answered shaking her head fretfully. "She said that she was going to wait a little for you to come and for us to go ahead. But when she didn't show up to class…"

"Malfoy!" Harry abruptly growled with such hatred that the girl jolted. Without another word, he turned and began to run down the halls again, leaving behind the mystified girl. Where could the swine have taken her? What had he done to her? A green-eyed monster burst inside of him and roared as horrible images swam in his head.

Knowing Malfoy, he'd probably take her either to a broom closet, an empty classroom, or… the Room of Requirement! Immediately, Harry vaulted up the stairs to the Room of Requirement, as if daring them to try to change on him. Frantic thoughts pounded against his head. What if something happened to her and he never told her how he really felt? What if everything just slipped from his hands before anything could start? His heart stopped at that thought. No…he wouldn't let that happen. He wasn't going to sit around and mope any longer. He wasn't going to let anyone take away what he needed most. He wasn't going to lie to himself anymore.

If he was going to lose his heart, he wanted Ginny to have it.

Harry rushed across the empty hallway three times, he concentrating on where Malfoy had taken her. He needed the right room. He needed it. He needed to save Ginny! The door appeared, and he gulped. He clenched his eyes shut tight in concentration. _Please!_

Just as he reached out to open the door, it opened on him and he was left gaping at the slightly mused redhead that emerged. She had her head turned away from him and she was calling over her shoulder, " – you little ferret!" Then she promptly walked right into Harry. To keep her from falling, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Flustered, he backed away, but kept his arms where they were.

"You…you're okay," he said in both amazement and relief.

Her blazing eyes burned holes in him before she tossed her head as she slammed the door behind her. Ginny snorted, "I don't need _your_ protection, of all people, Potter."

He felt as if she had punched him in the gut. She was still mad at him.

"Now if you'll _excuse_ me, I'm already terribly late for class."

She began to pull away, but suddenly pushed by the flood of anger in his veins, he pulled her closer.

"Stop this right now, Ginerva Weasley!" he snapped, his emerald green eyes glaring down at her. "I've been trying to apologize to you for a month now! I'm sorry, okay? I know and fully admit that I was a prat and you should hate me but I–"

"Harry…just where do you think you're touching?"

"Sweet Merlin!" he cried out in shock, letting go of her instantly, his face turning redder than ten suns. "I didn't – that was – you don't really think that I–!"

"Sure, Harry," she said, raising an amused eyebrow at him.

"Don't make fun of me! I'm trying to be serious here!" He clenched his fists and stumbled for the right words, wishing desperately that his face wasn't as scarlet as it felt. "You…you lost me a date to Hogsmeade you know!"

Her eyes darkened dangerously and her voice grew icy cold. "Is this what this is all about?"

"Yes! You owe me!" he cried out in frustration.

"I do not!" she answered angrily.

"Yes you do! Because you lost me that date, you! You…!" He covered his crimson face with his hand miserably. "You have to go with me…"

Ginny's eyes widened and her jaw fell open. Her body went limp with astonishment. A feather could have toppled her over. "W-What?"

"Go with…me," Harry repeated, feeling more embarrassed and humiliated than he ever had before. This was a hundred times worse than asking Cho to the Yule Ball because this wasn't just Cho. It was Ginny.

"As in…a date…" she said slowly.

"Yes," he moaned in agony. He was dying from humiliation.

"With you…"

"Look, if you don't want to, I get the pic–!"

He was cut off when he felt arms surround his neck and her lips press hard against his. Without thinking – partially because he simply could not, he kissed her back. They clung to each other for what seemed like days and with the intense passion of two star-crossed lovers. There was nothing else in the world but them. None of the chatter that erupted from the other students coming out of the classrooms below. None of the paintings' prattles. Not even Malfoy's muffled moan of pain behind the door. It seemed like such a long, long time before they finally broke apart. He smiled goofily at her – a smile that she returned.

"Wait a minute…" Harry said unexpectedly, blinking in confusion. "I thought you said I was the last pathetic prat you'd ever kiss!"

* * *

Naru-chan: Ha ha! Did you like it? Hmm? ;) I particularly liked the fight and when Harry battles with himself. I hoped that you understood that the title can be applied in more than one way... 

Want to press the nice shiny button that says "review?" Okay, so it's not really shiny, but you can pretend, right? ;)


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